August 12, 2009

I have fallen in love with Kiehl’s, or at least their products that I’ve used so far. You see, the story is that 2009 brought with it acne on my face. Historically, or at least as far as I can remember, I’ve never had acne on my cheeks. Forehead, perhaps, but never cheeks; plus I never had breakouts, not even during the raging-hormones era; it was always just the occassional pimple.

So imagine my horror when I began 2009 with horrible, horrible skin. I actually went out to buy Origins’ Plantidote Cream (click to read how that turned out)…anyhoo…so I gave up quick-fixing my face for a while and tried to just go back to cleaning well, treating well, and eating well.

So it didn’t get worse. But it didn’t necessarily get better.

For the past few months, however, I’ve heard raves about Kiehl’s. At least five people I know personally have fallen in love with Kiehl’s, so a week ago I figured I had nothing to lose (except money…o__O), waltzed into Kiehl’s, proclaimed to a startled-looking SA that my face is a totally mess and he needs to help me.

He handed me this:

Suffice it to say, a week later, after using Kiehl’s “Acne Blemish Control Daily Skin-clearing Treatment” twice a day (my skin is normal-oily, so I can pull it off. It could be drying on sensitive, dry skin though), there has been a total turnaround. The small bumps that I used to feel on my skin (hidden acne? I have no idea) are gone. Ok, so there are a few dark spots/scars left…but they’re visibly fading. My skin is SMOOTH, for the first time in eight months. There’s discoloration, like I said…but it looks like it’s going to fade away very, VERY soon.

This is worth every baht I paid for it (which is 1600 – that’s not too bad!) It’ s much cheaper than going to the dermatologist, too!

PS. Two days ago I went to buy their Yerba Mate toner and gel-moisturizer. That’s turning out well, too.

PPS. The SA gave me a sample of their Amino Acid shampoo. It smells like coconuts, and therefore, I love it. I love it so much I have decided I will shell out an obscene amount of money to buy it. Yes, ‘obscene’, because I’ve been using Sunsilk my entire life and that has worked out fine…but seriously…Sunsilk does not make coconut-scented shampoo! (Ok, weak argument, but really, when I shop, I throw caution and all logic to the wind.)

March 13, 2009

I don’t feel ripped off by “Origins Plantidote Face Serum.” Honestly, I don’t.

I don’t feel ripped off, dammit…but I KNOW I’VE BEEN RIPPED OFF.

The average Origins product here in Thailand sells at around 140% the price of the ones in America. On average, they use $1/50 baht instead of 35. Which is understandable, I guess, taxes and all, plus they have to make profit, yadi yar yar.

So at the beginning of this month, my face was a real mess. In my line of work, well, how I look isn’t as important as how I communicate, but still, you wouldn’t want a tutor with face that seems to have been ravaged by a pack of angry ants. Ergo, I waltz into Origins on March 1st, figuring, “What the heck. They can’t rip me off that badly. It can’t be more expensive than going to a dermatologist. Plus I won’t even have to go search for a dermatologist. Yeah, you go Ploy!”

So I walked off 2520 bahts poorer (this was even with discount.) Look, normally I don’t pay that much for skincare. NOBODY SHOULD PAY THAT MUCH FOR SKINCARE. THIS IS EXPENSIVE. 2800…heck, that’s like some person’s salary probably. I could eat like a week’s worth of food. Or a month’s worth of tall lattes. BUT the BA was pretty good at persuasion, and it even has the words “Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins” on it. And the condition of my skin was the worse that I’ve ever seen, so I took a deep breath and took the plunge.

I came home and went online..and found out that for the same price, I could get double the amount. The 1.7 oz. bottles retails for $66. The bottle I got was only 1 oz. I already felt horribly ripped off at the counter because I thought they used 50baht to convert it. Heck…they actually downsized it. I do not know which is worse.

And now, 12 days later…I do not see any visible changes in my skin. Well, no visible changes that can be attributed to a 2000-baht-ish bottle of face serum. I wish I could return it. I want my money back. I could’ve bought Ettusais stuff with it. And Ettusais WORKS, people. Even Kose’s Junkisui works (at least the acne spots thingamabob; I haven’t tried the whole line.)

Or maybe this serum just didn’t work for me. Maybe it would for you. But still, if you ever want to try Origin’s Plantidote Face Serum, I suggest you have someone haul it for you from America. Same price for double the quantity, go figure.

PS. I will still continue to use it. I mean, it’s a sunk cost already, so why not? But I just won’t buy it again. Back to Japanese brands for me. Who better understands skin and makeup than, well, the Japanese?